matthewgruman.com

Leo’s Song from impactist on Vimeo.

Photo credit: Count Me Out.

Tuning

I’ve done this in an open G C tuning: G C C G C C. I tried a number of different tunings (E A D F# B B + capo I was a favourite), and this is the one I think works best. On the record, he’s tuned just slightly below pitch, but it’s easy to figure out if you listen to the ringing top notes (they’re both C) and tune backwards from there.

Since it’s such an open tuning, you can be as sloppy as you need/want to be. If you’re having trouble making the chords, you can omit everything but the notes on the low E (fattest) string.

[UPDATE]: I’ve added a way to play it in regular tuning.

[UPDATE #2]: I’ve noticed a lot of people ending up here searching for “how to tune G C C G C C”. Don’t be scared about breaking your strings and do the following:

• E: up three steps to G
• A: up three steps to C
• D: down two steps to C
• G: keep as is
• B: up one step to C
• e: down four steps to C

Chords

Bon Iver
Skinny Love

Tuning: G C C G C C
*Note: on the record, he's tuned a bit down. Since the top two strings are the same, it's best just to tune based on them.

Am: 204000 -or- 200000
C: 507000 -or- 000000
D: 707000 -or- 700000
C/B: 407000 -or- 400000

- or -

Tuning: E A D G B e (standard)
*Note: This is only an interpretation for standard tuning. Chords are labeled to coincide with the way I named the open-tuned version.

Am: x0201x
C: x3201x
D: x5403x
C/B: x2x01x

Here are a couple of the riffs he uses throughout the song. Since it's in an open tuning, you can let the other strings ring out:

C|-------------------|-------0---------|
C|-------------------|-7-9-7---7-9-7-5-|
G|-7-9-7-5---7-9-7-5-|-----------------|
C|-------------------|-----------------|
C|-------------------|-----------------|
G|-------------------|-----------------|

Intro:
Am C
Am C
A C
D Am C

Verse:

Am              C
Come on skinny love just last the year
Am             C
Pour a little salt we were never here
        Am           C
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
               D                                Am   C
Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer

Am                 C
I tell my love to wreck it all
Am               C
Cut out all the ropes and let me fall
        Am           C
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
             D                   Am
Right in the moment this order's tall

Chorus:

  C
I told you to be patient
  C/B            Am
I told you to be fine
  C
I told you to be balanced

  C/B            Am
I told you to be kind
       C
In the morning I'll be with you
            C/B             Am
But it will be a different "kind"

        C
I'll be holding all the tickets

              C/B            Am
And you'll be owning all the fines

Verse:

Am               C
Come on skinny love what happened here
Am             C
Suckle on the hope in lite brassiere
        Am           C
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
               D                          Am
Sullen load is full; so slow on the split

C

Chorus:

  C
I told you to be patient
  C/B            Am
I told you to be fine
  C
I told you to be balanced

  C/B            Am
I told you to be kind
    C
Now all your love is wasted?

     C/B              Am
Then who the hell was I?
        C
Now I'm breaking at the britches
           C/B             Am
And at the end of all your lines

Bridge:

C
Who will love you?

C/B      Am
Who will fight?

C        C/B      Am
Who will fall far behind?

Outro:

Am C
Am C
Am C
D Am C

Tabbed by Matthew Gruman, matthewgruman.com
Lyrics: http://www.lyricsandsongs.com/song/877591.html

Music Video

Photo credit: other songs, it could be. To emulate the organ sound, I flick my fingers downward, individually, after hitting a root note with my thumb. Does that make sense? It sounds like “boom, da da da da da, da da” over and over again.

Chords

Beirut
Nantes

For ukelele tuned a 1/2 step up (G# C# F A#)

Dm: 2210
C: 0003
F: 2010

To play on guitar, capo VI:

Dm(Am): x02210
C(G): 320003
F(C): x32010

Intro:

Dm C F F x2

Verse:

                 Dm         C         F
Well it's been a long time, long time now
	   Dm       C         F
since I've seen you smile.
	 Dm       C     F
And I'll gamble away my fright.
	 Dm       C     F
And I'll gamble away my time.
	 Dm      C       F
And in a year, a year or so
          Dm     C      F
this will slip into the sea
                  Dm         C         F
Well, it's been a long time, long time now
           Dm       C         F
since I've seen you smile

Dm C F F x4

Chorus:

Dm     C           F
Nobody raise their voices
Dm           C        F
Just another night in Nantes

Dm     C           F
Nobody raise your voices

Dm           C        F
Just another night in Nantes

Bridge:

Dm C F F x2

Verse:

                 Dm         C         F
Well it's been a long time, long time now
	   Dm       C         F
since I've seen you smile.
	 Dm       C     F
And I'll gamble away my fright.
	 Dm       C     F
And I'll gamble away my time.
	 Dm      C       F
And in a year, a year or so
          Dm     C      F
this will slip into the sea
                  Dm         C         F
Well, it's been a long time, long time now
           Dm       C         F
since I've seen you smile

Outro:

Dm C F F x4

Tabbed by Matthew Gruman, matthewgruman.com
Lyrics from: http://www.sweetslyrics.com/523261.Beirut%20-%20Nantes.html

Note for Guitarists

The “low” string on a ukulele is higher than the next two subsequent strings. So, while the strings go G C E A, the relative pitches (1 being low, 4 being high) are 3 1 2 4. To replicate the sound, you would have to replace your D string with something much thinner (i.e. whatever you use for your high E) and tune it up an octave.

Music Video

My tab for Beirut’s Elephant Gun has been added to the Ultimate Guitar Archive. This is great because the other ones aren’t exactly “complete” or “accurate”.

I always get a kick out of how instantly the archive eradicates my Google rank. Searches that formerly brought people directly here now go to Ultimate Guitar instead.

Improv Song #1: Spice Girls from Matthew Gruman on Vimeo.

Travis started a conversion about the Spice Girls in key, so we finished it on film.

Owen Pallett (AKA Final Fantasy) – “Peach, Plum Pear” (Joanna Newsom cover)

Imogen Heap (formerly of Frou Frou) – “Just For Now”

Reggie Watts – “Out Of Control”

KT Tunsall – “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree”

Photo credit: Six Eyes Media.

Chords

Beirut
Elephant Gun

For ukelele tuned a 1/2 step up (G# C# E# A#)

Am: 2003
D7: 2223
G: 0232
C: 0003
C/B: 0002

To play on guitar, capo VI:

Am(Em): 022003
D7(A7): x02223
G(D): x00232
C(G): 320003
C/B(G/F#): 320002 -or- 2x0003

Intro:

Am D7 G C C/B  x2

Verse:

Am          D7                   G
   If I was young, I'd flee this town

	    C      C/B     Am
I'd bury my dreams under - ground
       D7             G             C      C/B
As did I, we drink to die, we drink ton - ight

Am          D7             G
   Far from home, elephant gun
                C    C/B    Am
Let's take them down one by one
             D7                  G                C   C/B
We'll lay it down, it's not been found, it's not ar - ound

Chorus:

Am         D7        G        C     C/B   Am
   Let the seasons begin - it rolls right on
        D7        G              C   C/B  (Am)
Let the seasons begin - take the big king down

Am         D7        G        C     C/B   Am
   Let the seasons begin - it rolls right on
        D7        G              C   C/B  (Am)
Let the seasons begin - take the big king down

Bridge:

Am D7 G C C/B  x4

Am     D7    G
    Oh oh oh oh
   C  C/B (Am)
Oh la la  la   x4

Am D7 G C C/B  x8

Verse:

Am             D7          G          C   C/B     Am
   And it rips through the silence of our camp at night

            D7          G         C  C/B Am
And it rips through the night  oh la la  la

            D7          G              C    C/B Am
And it rips through the silence of our camp at  night
            D7          G                    C       C/B       (Am)
And it rips through the silence, all that is left is all that i hide

Outro:

Am D7 G C C/B to end

Note for Guitarists

The “low” string on a ukulele is higher than the next two subsequent strings. So, while the strings go G C E A, the relative pitches (1 being low, 4 being high) are 3 1 2 4. To replicate the sound, you would have to replace your D string with something much thinner (i.e. whatever you use for your high E) and tune it up an octave.

Music Video

Over the past decade and a half, a revolution in recording technology has changed the way albums are produced, mixed and mastered — almost always for the worse. “They make it loud to get [listeners'] attention,” Bendeth says. Engineers do that by applying dynamic range compression, which reduces the difference between the loudest and softest sounds in a song. Like many of his peers, Bendeth believes that relying too much on this effect can obscure sonic detail, rob music of its emotional power and leave listeners with what engineers call ear fatigue. “I think most everything is mastered a little too loud,” Bendeth says. “The industry decided that it’s a volume contest.”

Rolling Stone.

If you’ve ever wondered why some TV stations are louder than others, it’s the same reason.

Beirut – Elephant Gun. Currently my favourite song.

About 10 years ago, I recorded a song called “First Foray” with my new-at-the-time doumbek and my acoustic guitar. It was my “first foray” (groan) into multi-track recording: I used the double cassette deck on my stereo and bounced four tracks back and forth on top of each other. I think that tape is still in my Mom’s storage locker, but I suppose it could be one of those Black Sabbath or Metallica dubs I finally got rid of* last year.

Anyway, while I was learning to actually multi-track (from cassette four-track to DAWs), I re-recorded the song a few times — adding parts and re-arranging. I got pretty sick of it after this one, so I named it “Final Foray” (get it? Because it’s my final foray into First Foray? re-groan).

On a redundancy scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being Girl Talk and 10 being Chocolate Rain, I’d give it about an 8.

Warning: I’ve been told that it makes people nauseous if they listen with headphones because of the ridiculous panning.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download mp3.

*Put in storage because I might want to listen to them again…